Ocean swim

When Clovelly's king of the surf, Tom Caddy, died last year at
the age of 90, he was estimated to have taught 100,000 people to
swim. Philip Muscatello was one of them.

Introduced to Clovelly sea baths at age four, Muscatello has
fond memories of his early swimming days, but would rather forget
his school swimming carnivals. "I was totally hopeless," he
admits.

It took a woman to renew his confidence. When he was 30,
Muscatello's girlfriend at the time was a keen swimmer. "She showed
me the basic techniques. Then I started doing laps."

Laps turned into ocean swims.

Five years ago, Muscatello swam in Bondi Beach's Cole
Classic.

"I had never swum two kilometres. Being able to do it non-stop
was a big thing."

Muscatello then took on the 2.7-kilometre swim from Palm Beach
to Whale Beach. "Then I really started to get serious about
it."

It was no longer enough for him to simply complete ocean swims,
especially the day a prize was incorrectly delivered to his
door.

The actual winner of the prize was a man in his 60s who had
finished an event a second faster than Muscatello.

A little humiliated, he turned to ocean swimming coach Chad
Schneider. "He makes you work harder than you realise you are."

Muscatello now swims two or three times a week, even in winter.
When not in the ocean, he trains at the Victoria Park pool in
Broadway.

"It's good for your back, your hips, your general wellbeing. My
girlfriend says I glow when I'm out of the water."

EXPERT VIEW

Paul Penna, sports psychologist, NSW Institute of
Sport.Penna says anybody can take up ocean swimming. "It just
depends on their motivation to do that. It may be that they want to
set goals and to attain them."

According to Penna, feeling purposeful in life is a big
motivator. "We all want to know we can achieve things."

For women, it's mostly about participation, but Penna says men
are more likely to be ego-orientated. "When we beat people we feel
good," he says.